


The sound of your voice

by Qwerty1



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Love, au - disability representation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 20:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17752964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qwerty1/pseuds/Qwerty1
Summary: Crashing his stolen TARDIS on Earth, the Doctor comes to the realization that not all humans are as bad as his people has made them out to be. Especially not Rose.





	The sound of your voice

As the Doctor regains consciousness, the memories comes flooding back into his brain. Stealing a TARDIS. Running away. TARDIS malfunctioning. Crashing. The last thing he remembers is sending a distress call with his coordinates to the Council, praying they will have enough compassion left in their hearts to come and pick him up from wherever he is. 

Which, he realizes as he opens his eyes, must be Earth. 

The thing giving the planet away isn’t the bedroom with view over a large, green garden. Nor is it the soft bed or the smell of the atmosphere. No, the thing telling him this is Earth is the human sitting on a stool by the wall, watching him. She looks like some kind of staff, or maybe someone who works in the kitchen. But why would she be here with him if she works in the kitchen?

The room spins as he tries to sit up, and he falls back down onto the bed. The human smiles, warmly.   
“I think you need to lie down some more, sir. You had quite a nasty blow to your head”, she tells him, patiently.   
Sir? Why is she calling him sir? He groans, closing his eyes. He’s always hated titles, it only makes it seem like he’s better than someone else. But this is Earth, so in this case it’s sort of true. 

It’s not that he personally dislikes humans. To be honest, he’s never met one in his life. No, it’s the fact the Academy has been feeding him with since the day he began his education there: humans are a primitive form of life and they don’t deserve any respect whatsoever. Still, the Doctor likes to get his own opinion when it comes to these sort of things. 

“What happened?” the Doctor asks, without opening his eyes.  
He’s not asking cause he needs to know, since he knows what happened very well himself. He’s just asking to confirm how much she knows.  
“We found you outside a wagon. You seem to have crashed, and the horse tore away. Mrs Tyler couldn’t stand the thought of you being left like that on your own, so she had you brought here”, the human explains.  
A wagon… That must mean the chameleon circuit is still working. Which also means he at least hasn’t totally wrecked the TARDIS. The TARDIS he stole. 

Yeah, the chances that the council are ever coming to get him are very slim. 

“Who are you? How did you get here?”  
The human female’s voice brings the Doctor out of his thoughts. He snaps his eyes open. Who is he? He can’t tell her he’s an alien, that’s a sure. Not if he wants to stay. Which he do. He needs somewhere to be while waiting for his people to answer his distress call. Which could take weeks, since the TARDIS was already damaged when he sent it and the signal wasn’t very strong. 

If his people are going to answer the distress call…

He starts of simple, with the obvious.  
“I’m the Doctor”, he tells her.   
She seems genuinely suprised.   
“A doctor? Why was a man like you traveling by yourself?”  
He shakes his head.  
“No no, not like that. The Doctor is just my name”, he tries to explain quickly.  
“How could anyone be named something like that?”  
“I choose it myself. I don’t really have a name”, he tries.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I’m an escaped slave”, he blurts out.

It’s the perfect cover story, really: a slave who stole a wagon in desperation, and crashed as he was getting away from his owners. He has already calculated that it’s somewhere around the 1800’s, and at this time humans still have slaves. Some of them, anyway. If these people has got some empathy, which he desperately hopes they do, they’ll take pity on him and let him stay.

He hopes.

 

For the next few minutes, the Doctor has been listening to the pretty heated discussion outside the door to the bedroom he’s in. There’s two voices involved in the conversation: a man and a woman he doesn’t recognize.

“I’m telling you, Jackie, this could really be good for Rose.”  
“Good? Good how, exactly?”  
“The girl stays in her room most of the time, it’s not healthy. She needs to get out more. And you know very well our staff doesn’t have the time to care for her all day, not with all their chores.”  
“Yes, I do know that. But, this is a man! He can’t dress or bath her!”  
“Of course not. Those would still be the duties of the female staff. She just needs someone to walk her around, to make sure she can move around freely.”  
“Okay, so now you think I’m going to trust my daughter’s safety in the hands of someone I haven’t even met yet?”  
“Why are you being so negative?”  
“Why shouldn’t I be? He’s an escaped slave, Pete! He said so himself!”  
“Which is why he will be absolutely delighted to have a task where he’ll be treated with respect. You just need to trust people sometimes, you know.”  
“How do you know he won’t hurt her?”  
“Does he have any reason to?”

The voices goes quiet, and the Doctor holds his breath as the door is opened. Into the room comes the sources of the voices: A man and a woman in their sixties, both dressed in really posh clothing. They look rich. Important. That must be mrs and mr Tyler, he thinks for himself.

“Doctor, wasn’t it?” the man asks him.  
“Yup!” the Doctor replies, a little too happily.  
“Pete Tyler, and this is my wife Jackie. You are welcome to stay here, but if you choose to do so there’s a… Let’s say a condition.”  
Jackie steps forward, studying him. Possibly also judging him. The Doctor can’t really blame her. He’s arrived uninvited and now he’s asking to stay at her house. Of course she’s judging him. 

Then, Jackie Tyler speaks.  
“It’s my daughter, Rose. She… She needs some assistance, and none of our house staff has got time to help her all the time. But you do, since you’re not a house staff.”  
The Doctor swallows.  
“So, you want me to help her, or something…?”  
“Yes. Come on, let’s introduce you.”

 

Pete and Jackie takes the Doctor through the huge house, up the spiral staircase and into a large bedroom. There aren’t many furniture in the room: a queen sized bed, a drawer and a chair and desk. A young girl is sitting in the middle of the bed. She’s probably in her late teens, blond hair falling down and covering half of her face. 

As the three enters her bedroom, the girl perks up.   
“Who’s there?” she asks sharply.   
“It’s me, sweetheart”, Jackie explains.   
The girl - Rose, the Doctor guesses - relaxes, scooting over to the end of the bed and standing up. Jackie takes her hands.   
“Me and your dad has something for you”, she says gently.   
“Is it a present?” Rose asks excitedly, beaming.   
“I guess you could say that, yeah.”

Pete puts his hand on the Doctor’s back, wordlessly urging him to move closer to the girl. Jackie moves out of the way, and suddenly the Doctor is face to face with Rose. The Doctor tries to make eye contact with her, but his attempts to do so fails. She’s not looking at him, she’s just staring out in front of her. A bit rude, actually. 

Jackie takes Rose’s hands, placing them in the Doctor’s. Rose grabs at these new hands, almost like she’s exploring them.   
“This is the Doctor. He’ll be your special helper, your eyes”, Jackie says.   
Rose smiles, and the Doctor finally puts the pieces together. 

She’s blind. 

“Hello, Doctor”, Rose says carefully.   
“Hello”, the Doctor says back, cause he can’t really do anything else.   
“Will you take a walk with me outside, Doctor? You could tell me what you see”, she requests.   
“Of course”, the Doctor hears himself replying. 

 

It’s a very special feeling, the Doctor discovers, describing the world to someone who’s never seen it. 

Rose has already had things described to her, obviously, but it turns out she never gets tired of listening to people telling her how this place looks. The Doctor isn’t an exception either: Rose’s smile lights up her entire face as she walks next to him, holding onto his arm and listening to his voice as he lists all the colors of the flowers in the flowerbeds around the house.

“There are so many colors, so many different shades of each color. They are several yellow, several red and several blue. I do love the color blue, me. Don’t you?”   
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it”, Rose says.   
The Doctor immediately regrets what he just said.   
“I’m sorry”, he rambles.   
Rose smiles.   
“It’s okay. Hey, why don’t you tell me about it?”  
“About what?”  
“Blue?”  
“The color blue?”  
“That’s the one.”

The Doctor pauses their walking, looking up at the sky. The blue sky. Hoping to get some sort of inspiration. When his brain remains frustratingly blank he closes his eyes, trying to see things the way she sees them. Literally. 

“Well, Rose, the color blue is a lot of things. It’s the color of the sky, and the color of the sea. Most people loves both the sky and the sea, but for some reason the color blue also makes them sad.”  
“Why’s that?”  
“I don’t really know. Some colors are just associated with moods, I guess. Yellow means happy, red means angry. And blue means sad.”  
“Why?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“I thought you knew everything”, Rose teases.   
“Well, I don’t. I only know almost everything.”  
“You think you’re so impressive!”  
“I am so impressive!”  
“You wish!”

Grabbing her arm, the Doctor pulls them both down into the grass. Rose lets out a mixture between a shriek and a laughter, pretend-struggling against him.   
“Oi!” she yells.   
“Do you admit it?”  
“Admit what?”  
“That I am impressive?”  
“Never!”

That’s when the tickle fight begins. 

 

At dinner later that night, the Doctor meets Rose’s younger brother. Tony Tyler is an eight year old boy with light orange hair and very ambitious dreams of becoming a pirate, something his mother has pointed out is extremely unethical. 

“Are you Rose’s new boyfriend?” he asks the Doctor just a little too loud as the house staff serves the dinner.  
Rose lets out a high pitched noise of embarrassment at this question. Jackie shushes her son, sighing. The Doctor remains calm and collected, even smiling as he answers the question.  
“No, I’m not. I’m just here to help her with stuff.”  
“Cause she can’t see”, Tony finished, pointing out the obvious.  
“Exactly.”

 

“I like your hair”, Rose announces happily.  
“Why’s that?” the Doctor wonders, confused.   
“Cause it’s so… I don’t know… Floppy”, she giggles.  
“Floppy?”  
“Yup!”  
“Alright, if you say so...”

Rose giggles adorably, her fingers continuing their journey through his hair. The Doctor shuts his eyes, concentrating completely on the relaxing feeling of Rose’s fingertips against his scalp. They are sitting on the couch in the parlor, the Doctor’s head against Rose’s chest as the blonde runs her fingers through his hair. 

 

As the weeks goes by, the blind girl and her caretaker’s bond grows stronger than they ever thought was possible. Especially since they only met a few weeks ago. The Doctor never thought it was ever possible for him to be this fond over a human, more less a disabled human. Still, Rose has done something to him. Something he can’t really put into words. Her smile is the most wonderful thing, and her happiness never fails to make him happy as well. That’s why he, obviously, loves making her happy. 

They are in the garden in front of the house, the Doctor holding onto Rose’s arm and Rose thoughtfully running her fingertips across a nearby tree. A soft wind blows by, ruffling her blonde hair. In the time he’s known her, the Doctor has learned this is the way she looks at things: with her fingers. Which is pretty logical, since her eyes doesn’t work. So the next question shouldn’t suprise him as much as it does. 

“Can I touch your face?” she asks, carefully.   
“Pardon?”  
“Sorry, that probably sounded weird. I just… I want to get an idea of what you look like.”  
“By touching my face?”  
“Yeah...”  
“Alright, then.”  
“Really?”  
“Yup!”

Rose turns, so she’s facing him. The Doctor gently takes her hands in his, guiding them to his cheeks. Rose takes over, mapping out his skin with her fingertips. Her lips press together in concentration as she runs her fingers across all of his face, slowly. Over his nose, around his mouth. Her fingertips touches his eyelids and his eyes automatically flutters shut. Rose smiles, her fingertips now touching his closed eyelids. 

Then the beautiful moment is over, Rose taking her hands back down and the Doctor goes back to holding her by her upper arm. She turns around, once again focusing her attention on the tree. 

“You want to climb it?” the Doctor asks, casually.   
“What…?”

 

There are many things Tony Tyler doesn’t know about his sister’s condition. He doesn’t know why she was born with it, and he doesn’t know the medical reasons for blindness. He does, however, know the basics: she can’t see anything, she needs help with everyday things and there are also many things she just can’t do. Climbing trees used to be one of those things she just can’t do. 

Until the Doctor arrived, apparently. 

His parents are drinking tea as he dashes into the parlor, panting from running all the way from the garden.   
“Rose is climbing a tree!” he yells at the top of his lungs.   
The outburst was meant to express his excitement over the fact that his sister is now able to do something she’s never done before, but all he sees in his parents’ eyes as they rises from the couch is fear. 

They hurry outside, Tony leading the way. He stops in front of one of the best climbing trees, pointing up. Jackie and Pete follows his finger with their eyes, and just like he said Rose and the Doctor are sitting side by side on a branch near the top. They doesn’t recognize their daughter right away, since she’s wearing shirt and pants rather than the usual dresses. 

Jackie gasps, horrified.   
“Rose, get down from there! You’re gonna fall and break your neck!”  
“No worries mrs Tyler, I’ve got the situation under control!” the Doctor calls cheerfully.   
Despite Jackie not wanting to admit it, it does seem like he’s got things under control. He’s got his arm wrapped around Rose tightly, the blonde leaning against his side for extra support. She’s sitting on the side closest to the tree itself, her palm resting against the trunk. And, most importantly, she looks really happy. 

This Doctor might not be so bad after all, Jackie thinks with a smile. 

The Doctor turns his attention back to Rose.  
“It seems like we should get down. I don’t think your mum likes you climbing trees”, he tells her, jokingly.  
“Probably not. I also need to get changed for the party.”  
“And take a bath!” Jackie adds from the ground, before he’s got any chance to ask what party they are referring to. 

Deciding not to think about that right now, the Doctor gets to work with helping Rose down. He makes sure she’s okay leaning her weight against the tree trunk as he climbs down so his feet are on the branch below. Next he grabs her firmly around the waist and she uses the trunk as a sort of guide as she gets down to the branch he’s standing on. She uses the trunk for support once again as he climbs down to the next branch, helping her down once again. They continue this until they reach the ground, the Doctor catching Rose half way down and making sure her feet lands steadily.   
“Okay?” he asks her.  
“Brilliant!” she replies, even laughing a little.

They make their way over to their spectators, the Doctor guiding Rose like usual.   
“I’m sorry, but you can’t climb trees wearing a dress. The clothes was the Doctor’s idea. It’ll only take a minute for me to change, promise. Please don’t be angry”, Rose rambles, her voice anxious at the last part.  
Pete steps forward, then, wrapping his daughter in a big hug.  
“Angry? How could I ever be angry? I’m happy, Rose. Oh, I’m so happy. You go climbing as many trees as you like, as long as you’re safe.”  
Ending the hug with a kiss to his daughter’s forehead, Pete turns to the Doctor.

“And thank you, Doctor. For making her happy”, Pete whispers.  
The Doctor smiles. He looks over at Jackie, and the woman’s face tells him she’s thinking what Pete just said.   
“What’s this party, anyway?” he asks as one of the female house staff takes over, guiding Rose towards the house, most likely to get her washed and dressed.   
“It’s my birthday party!” Rose calls, now already by the house.

The Doctor gives Jackie a look of disbelief.  
“She’s joking, isn’t it?”  
“Of course not. It is her birthday tomorrow. She’ll be nineteen.”  
“And how come I haven’t been informed about this?”  
“It’s not that hard to understand. You hang out with Rose all day, and we never talk to her about parties.”  
“Why not?”  
“It’s not her thing, as simple as that.”  
“But it’s her birthday!” the Doctor protests.  
Jackie sighs.   
“I’ve been trying to tell her that too, believe me.”

 

“Why don’t you like parties?”  
“My mum told you that?”  
“Take a guess.”  
“She did.”  
“She did, yes.”

Rose smiles as that. They are sitting on the edge of her bed, Rose’s hair still a little damp from the bath. She’s wearing a dress Jackie apparently picked out especially for this occasion: a pastel pink, sleeveless thing with frilly white layers underneath that ends just below her knees. Her hair is styled into a neat knot in the back of her head, the simple hair style complemented by a crown made out of the flowers that gave her her name. And she’s beautiful. So very beautiful.

If she can’t see it for herself, she at least deserves to hear it.  
“You’re beautiful”, the Doctor tells her, his voice a gentle whisper.  
“Thank you. My mum chose the dress, and Donna did my hair.”  
“No, that not… That’s not it. It’s not just the dress. Or the hair. It’s you. You are so very beautiful, Rose. And I think you deserve to hear it every day.”

Not sure how to respond to this sudden praise, Rose lowers her head. She seems slightly uncomfortable, so the Doctor thinks it might be best to just change the subject. But, just as he’s about to start talking about something else, Jackie Tyler enters the room. She didn’t even knock, which does seem a little rude. Rose doesn’t have to ask who it is, though, cause her mum is talking from the moment she walks into her bedroom.

“C’mon sweetheart, you have to get down! The first guests have arrived!”  
Rose stands up, Jackie taking her arm and leading her out of the room in what seems like the span of a few seconds. The Doctor stands up automatically, ready to follow them, but then he hesitates. Rose has got her mother with her, she’ll be alright for a few minutes. He shouldn’t be so worried about her, she can take care of herself. Or, well…

Sitting back down onto Rose’s bed, the Doctor exhales. He needs to come up with a present for her. A really awesome, really great present. A present that holds the potential of showing her how important she has become to him. He was stranded on a planet after leaving his home, and then this pink and yellow human came into his life and gave him a purpose. She gave him something to do, kept him occupied. And, now he’s pretty sure he’s gone and fallen in love with her. 

No, Doctor, he tells himself. You can’t be in love with a human! It’s absurd and horrible and he’s pretty sure something like that is punishable by one of Gallifrey’s law. Humans are a primitive race with only one heart and no regeneration. They die in the end, that’s just how it is. It would simply never work between them. It isn’t something he should even be considering!

No, his feelings for Rose isn’t feelings of love. It’s something like a very strong friendship, rather. Still, he needs to give her a birthday present. 

 

“Rose! Hello! Oh, you’ve grown so much!”  
“That’s what happens when you get older”, Rose mutters under her breath, but this mysterious, unknown relative doesn’t seem to hear her.   
Rose freezes in place as a kiss is pressed to each one of her cheeks, mentally wincing. 

The old lady abandons her to talk to the other guests, and she fumbles beside her for her mum’s arm. An arm that isn’t there. She inhales sharply. She never even noticed Jackie leaving her side. Why would she do that, anyway? No normal mother would leave their blind daughter in a place full of people she doesn’t know! Right?

Holding her arms out in front of her to keep from bumping into anything or anyone, Rose starts making her way forward. Slowly. Holding her breath. Her fingers brush again some type of fabric, possibly someone’s dress. She keeps walking. All around her is a buzz of voices. She can’t make out they are saying, despite trying really hard. Her brain is spinning, thoughts racing. Where the hell is her mum!? 

Suddenly she’s falling, her foot caught on something. Her arms shoots out in front of her, catching her and preventing her head from hitting the floor. Suddenly there are hands all over her, all those voices saying her name. The hands seem to want to drag her upwards, but she struggles against them. Why won’t they just leave her alone!? Why-!?

“Rose!”  
Everything comes to a halt. Rose listens to his steps as he runs towards her. The hands are distracted enough so she can free herself from their grasp, ending up in his arms as he reaches her.   
“Doctor”, she breathes out, a strange relief washing over her as she buries her face in his neck. He holds her close, the panic leaving her body with every rub of his hand against her back. 

“Who is this man?” one of the guests asks.   
“I’m her caretaker”, the Doctor announces, like it’s something he’s proud of.  
Like having to look after her is something that brings him joy. 

 

The Doctor leads Rose away from the crowd of party guests. At her request they go into her room, shutting the door after them to drown out the noise from downstairs. Rose sits down on her bed, exhaling shakily. The Doctor sits down beside her. 

“Now I know why you don’t like parties”, he says matter-of-factly.   
“I bet you do”, she mutters.  
She sighs, and suddenly she’s leaning her head against his shoulder. The unexpected body contact has him tensing up, but then he finds himself relaxing. He looks over at her. Her eyes are shut. For some reason he didn’t think she’s able to control her eyelids like a seeing person. He now realizes that was a silly thing to think. 

Automatically, almost with a mechanical motion, he puts his arm around her shoulders. She curls into his side, a happy noise coming from her mouth. He smiles.  
“What do you want for your birthday?” he asks her, whispering so he won’t disturb the peaceful moment in any way.  
“Nothing.”  
“Nothing? That’s impossible! You have to want something!”  
She smiles.  
“Nope.”  
”Rose...”  
“Yes?” she giggles.  
“There has to be something you want. Something you haven’t got yet.”  
“There was, but I already got that several weeks ago.”  
“Yeah? And what’s that?”  
“You. Or, I didn’t know I wanted you before I got you. Still... ”

That sentence should not have made the Doctor’s hearts beat as quick as they now do.

 

The Doctor doesn’t sleep. Not much, at least. At most he needs one hour per night. In a house full of sleeping humans this gives him plenty of time to wander around and think about stuff. Right now, he’s still thinking about that damn birthday present. 

Her family is obviously very rich, so it’s very likely she’s already got everything she could ever want. What do you give someone who’s got everything?

As these thoughts are racing through his head, he’s walking through the corridor on the second floor. He’s carrying a burning candle, since these creatures hasn’t really invented lamps yet. For some unknown reason, he finds himself lingering outside Rose’s bedroom door. He doesn’t know why. But it’s a good thing, cause that’s when he hears the first cry. 

It isn’t that loud. Probably because there’s a closed door between them. He can still hear her, and she sounds unhappy. Distressed, even. The rage builds up inside him, and he swings the door open. How dare anyone hurt his Rose!?

But, he realizes as he shines the candle into the darkness of her bedroom, no one is hurting her. She’s making these distressed noises without any visible reason, thrashing around in her bed. The Doctor stands frozen at the door frame, before it hits him she must be having a nightmare.

Crossing the room and placing the candle on the bedside table, he kneels down and shakes her shoulders. First softly, then a little rougher. She cries out again, flinching away from his touch.  
“Rose? Rose, can you hear me?”  
She crawls backwards until he can no longer reach her from his position on the floor, panting. At least she’s awake now. The fear in her face breaks his hearts. Whatever she dreamed about, it can’t have been pleasant at all. 

Forcing himself to calm down in order to give her comfort, the Doctor takes a few deep breaths before speaking.  
“Rose? It’s me. It’s the Doctor”, he says gently, standing up and slowly moving closer.  
“Doctor?” Rose asks, her voice small and vulnerable.   
She crawls forward, most likely searching for contact. The Doctor meets her half way, getting up onto her bed and taking her hand. She seems suprised at this at first, but then she takes his hand and holds it close to her chest, right at her heart. Her single, beating heart. 

“May I ask what happened?” he asks carefully.  
“Bad dream”, she says flatly.  
“Oh. Do you want to talk about it?”  
“Not really, no. Why are you here, anyway?”  
“I heard you. You sounded like you were hurt, and I thought it was my duty as your caretaker to check up on you.”  
“Mm. Thank you”, she mumbles.  
He smiles.  
“No worries. Do you get nightmares often?”  
“Kind of. I think it has something to do with my blindness.”  
“What do you mean?” he asks, concerned.  
He had assumed she was born blind. Maybe that’s not the case. Maybe she was in some kind of horrible accident. An accident that still hunts her in her sleep. Something inside of him dies. No one deserves something like this! Least of all someone like Rose.

But, he realizes to his relief as Rose replies, that’s not the case at all.  
“Since I can’t see anything, it’s easier for me to get startled by things. Especially in dreams.”  
“Oh.”  
“Yeah.”

Then there’s silence. Rose is still crying, her cheeks wet with tears and new tears adding to the mix all the time. She sniffles, suddenly moving even closer to him. Suddenly she’s curled up against his chest, her head resting right between his hearts-

Oh no.

The Doctor wants to move away, wants to break the body contact before she notices anything out of the ordinary. But Rose is smart. And he’s pretty sure her being blind contributes to an extra strong sense of touch. Which means she should be able to feel that someone’s got double heartbeats in no time at all. 

Rose gasps, her head being replaced by her palm as she holds her hand over his chest. Her mouth parts in a silent, very obvious question. There’s no need to try to talk himself out of this one. The Doctor swallows.   
“Yup, I have two hearts”, he confesses with a shaky exhale.   
The question finally makes it out of Rose’s mouth.   
“What…?”  
“Yup”, he says, cause that’s about all he can do. 

Rose moves her palm across his chest, first to the left and then the right side. And then back again. Finally, she speaks.  
“But, I don’t understand… I’ve had a bit of biology, and no one has two hearts. No one! That’s a fact.”  
“Yes, that’s true. For humans, at least.”  
“What? You’re saying… What are you?”  
“I’m not from Earth. I was born on a different planet.”  
“What are you doing here?”  
“I wasn’t supposed to end up here, my ship crashed.”

Rose swallows, probably thinking through everything she’s just heard.   
“You’re an alien”, she says, slowly.  
“Yup. Is that alright?”  
“I… I think so, yeah. And I’m sorry.”  
“Sorry? Sorry for what?” he wonders confused.  
“You must miss your own planet...”  
“What? Nah, not really. Never liked it there, honestly. That’s why I left. Still, now I need to wait for them to come pick me up.”  
“Really?”

Suddenly, Rose seems really sad. And the Doctor doesn’t like that.   
“Rose?” he asks, gently.  
“Hm?”  
“Don’t tell anyone else, alright?”  
“Alright”, she agrees, her head ending up resting against his shoulder.

They sit there for several minutes, in complete and comfortable silence. Until Rose yawns, and the Doctor is reminded that it’s actually somewhere around midnight. She must be exhausted, being human and all.

“Well, I’m gonna go now. You need your sleep”, he tells her, rising from her bed.  
To his suprise, her hands grab after him.  
“No!” she cries.  
Suddenly alarmed, the Doctor sits back down.  
“What is it, Rose?”  
“I just… Could you stay here? At least until I fall asleep?”  
“Of course I can.”

They lay down together, the Doctor pulling the duvet over them and holding Rose close. Rose curls into his chest, her body relaxing against him. The Doctor’s never been this close to a human, he realizes. She’s warm in his arms, warm and soft. Not being able to resist, he presses a feather-light kiss to her forehead. 

As the girl in his arms falls asleep, the Doctor’s mind wanders back to the birthday present. The birthday present he hasn’t figured out yet. Why is this so hard? He just needs to figure out the best present ever, it shouldn’t be such a hard task. Right? Well, I would have been very simple if Rose had been seeing, her blindness does complicate things. What’s a blind person even gonna appreciate as a gift? It has to be something special… Something-

The thought hits the Doctor with such intensity that actually gets up into sitting position, a grin spreading across his face.  
“Oh, that’s brilliant”, he whispers to himself.

 

They are hanging out in the garden, sitting together in the grass. They’ve done that a lot lately, since Rose never seems to grow tired of listening to the Doctor description of the environment. She claims it’s because she loves his voice, but he still doesn’t understand it. Still, this is the perfect opportunity.

“I’ve got a birthday present for you. A bit late, I know”, he says softly.  
Rose smiles.  
“Really? Thank you! And it doesn’t matter it’s late, I’m just happy you got me something! You didn’t have to, you know.”  
“I wanted to. Anyway… You… You remember I said I’m an alien, yes?”  
She giggles.  
“I don’t think I could ever forget that.”  
“Good. Great. Brilliant. Well, I have this… I mean, the people from my planet we can… What I’m trying to say is...”

Rose giggles again.  
“Hey, calm down. Now, what did you want to tell me?”  
He inhales, sharply.  
“Do you know what telepathy is?” he asks finally.  
“No, I don’t.”  
“Well, it’s… It’s a way of communicating without words, a way of sending information directly to the brain.”  
“Okay...”  
“Do you trust me?”

The question is so sudden, so unexpected. Still, the answer is obvious. How could she not trust him, after everything he has done for her?  
“Yes”, Rose tells him, for some reason in a whisper.  
“Okay. Brilliant. Um… Just relax, okay?”  
“Okay.”

The Doctor shifts so he’s sitting in front of her rather than next to her, putting her fingers to her temples. She tenses up at the unexpected contact at first, but she quickly relaxes.  
“This might feel a little weird, but that’s normal. If there’s something in your mind you don’t want me to see, memories or thoughts or anything, just imagine a door and close it. You understand?”  
“I think so, yeah.”  
“Good. Now, just relax. If it gets too much or anything just tell me, okay?”  
“Yeah?”

The Doctor closes his eyes, taking deep breaths, bracing himself. It’s been almost more than a month since he used to telepathy, and he’s not completely sure how his mind is going to handle this sudden reactivating. It’s just a simple projection, and shouldn’t be too complicated. He looks around briefly before closing his eyes, holding the mental image of the grass and the trees in his mind. He then proceeds to send that mental image into Rose’s mind, holding his breath as he does so.

Opening his eyes, the Doctor watches Rose’s reaction. The girl’s mouth is parted in awe, a gasp coming from her.   
“Oh my god”, she whispers, and then she’s crying, silent tears making their way down her cheeks.   
The Doctor panics. Did he do something wrong? Is she hurt? Did he hurt her? He didn’t, did he? Oh god, he hurt her!

But Rose smiles, almost like she’s a little amused.   
“No no, I’m happy. I’m so very happy. This is wonderful.”  
The Doctor is confused for a short moment, before it hits him that he must’ve accidently sent those thoughts to Rose as well. It’s been a while since he’s done something like this, it really has. 

The Doctor moves on, choosing another image to project into Rose’s mind. This image is one of the view from Rose’s bedroom window. He can’t tell exactly how she experiences this, since his telepathic presence doesn’t mean she’s suddenly not blind. He does imagine she gets a pretty detailed idea of how what he’s showing her looks like, though. And that’s always something. She looks happy. which is the most important.

Suddenly, to the Doctor’s suprise, Rose is leaning closer to him. Closer and closer. And closer. Until their lips are just an inch apart. The Doctor finds himself staring at her mouth, her lips. Her very lovely-looking lips. It would be very nice kissing those lips, he hears himself thinking.

And then he does: closing the tiny distance between them, his lips finding hers. The noise Rose lets out is one of both suprise and content. Mostly content, actually. Then the Doctor’s hands are in her hair, the telepathic link breaking as his fingers leaves her temples. Rose doesn’t seem to mind, though, as she pressed her body against his. This results in the Doctor falling backwards, ending up on his back. Rose climbs her way up his body, her fingers finding her way into his hair as well.

“I love your hair”, she giggles.  
Her voice breaks the spell. The Doctor freezes, pushing her off him as he sits up.   
“Doctor?” Rose asks, fumbling after him.  
“We can’t, Rose”, he says, standing up.

“What do you mean?” Rose wonders, voice small and full of anxiety.  
“I mean what I said: we can’t. We can’t be together, Rose. Not like that.”  
“W-what do you mean?”  
“I just told you!” he snaps.

She flinches, tears shining in her eyes. He didn’t mean to be that harsh. Of course not. The last thing he wants to do is hurt her. He just wants her safe. Safe and happy. And she can’t be safe with him. Not like that, at least.

“I’m not human, Rose. I don’t die, I just get reborn. I live for centuries. You humans can’t. Humans die, Rose. You only live a fraction of our life spans. In the end, you wither away and then you die. And that’s it. I’d have to watch that happen to you Rose! I’d have to watch you wither away! Imagine watching that happen to someone you-!”  
“Someone you what, Doctor?”  
The Doctor’s voice dies in his throat. He meant to finish the sentence, he did. 

Rose has crawled backwards and she’s now making attempts to stand up without any assistance. Her hands fumbles in the air for something to grab to help pull her up. And she’s crying, breathing heavily as a waterfall of tears runs down her face. Her bottom lip shakes. It looks like she wants to say something, but she can’t get out the words. The Doctor wants to go over and help her, he really does. But he shouldn’t. It would only make the rejection harder. And he has to reject her. He can’t promise her a life together, since that’s not something he could ever give her.

There’s only one thing he can do.

The Doctor finds Donna by the porch, instantly recognizing her by her very red hair. Donna is the one who takes the most care of Rose out of the staff, helping her with person things like taking a bath or getting dressed. The two girls have developed a close relationship, something the Doctor hasn’t failed to notice. He sometimes doesn’t understand why Donna isn’t just Rose’s personal caretaker. But, if that was the case, he most likely would’ve never met Rose himself. And the thought of that is just sad. 

“Donna”, the Doctor says, attracting the redhead’s attention.  
“Yes?” Donna asks, turning around.  
The Doctor swallows.  
“Could… Could you maybe escort Rose to her bedroom? She seems to be upset”, he requests, voice flat.  
“Of course, Doctor”, Donna says, smiling sweetly.  
Donna is also one of the few people who began calling the Doctor by his prefered name without finding it weird or uncomfortable. 

The Doctor turns around, silently watching Donna as she walks over to Rose.  
“C’mon, miss Tyler”, she says sweetly, helping Rose up and holding her by the upper arm as the two of them starts making their way towards the house.  
Rose does struggle a little, but she soon gives up and follows willingly. The Doctor’s hearts hurts. Well, at least Donna is gonna take care of Rose. 

 

The TARDIS door is unlocked, just like he left it, opening easily under the pressure of his palm. She disguised like a simple wooden wagon, just as he was told. He hasn’t been in here since the day he crashed, which must be at least a month ago now. 

The console is basically dead, no light coming from it. The Doctor runs his fingers over the cold, smooth metal surface. He might hate the Time Lords and everything they stand for, but he still feels bad for the TARDIS. She didn’t choose to be a part of this, he just took her from her home planet. 

The console room is still on default: plain and white. The Doctor thinks he likes it that way. It’s so simple. Not complicated and posh, like the Time Lords. 

Sitting down with his back against the console, the Doctor closes his eyes. He sits, quietly, dedicating a moment to seeing the world the way Rose sees it. Still, it’s not the same thing. Rose was born blind, she has never known anything other than the world of darkness. Or, he at least assumes she was born blind. If she wasn’t, she would still know what colors looks like. 

Pulling his hands through his hair and bracing himself with a deep breath, the Doctor stands up again. He presses his palms against the console, calming himself down. Once he feels he’s ready he exits the TARDIS again, stepping out into the soft wind.

A major part of the house is in flames.

 

Jackie runs over to the Doctor the second she spots him in the chaos of running and screaming people. Her face lights up with hope, but that hope quickly dies away.  
“Doctor! Where’s Rose? Oh, god, please tell me she’s with you!” she cries. 

The Doctor stares at the woman, trying to figure out how to best respond.  
“No, I had Donna take her to her room”, he replies flatly, his hearts shattering as the words leaves his mouth.  
Jackie turns around, looking at something on the building. It’s a window. The fire hasn’t got that high yet, but it still seems like the room is full of smoke. Rose’s room. The Doctor yells out a curse in Gallifreyian and then he’s running, running without really knowing where he’s going. Until he’s stopped, that is, someone grabbing his upper arm and yanking him backwards.

“Doctor, stop it! You can’t!”  
It’s Jackie. Of course it is. She looks horrified, absolutely horrified. The Doctor attempts to pull his arm from her grip, but it doesn’t work.   
“I know you want to believe they will be able to put out the fire with water, but I honestly don’t think there’s enough time. Not if you wanna save Rose.”  
Jackie sobs, then, pressing her palm over her mouth to muffle the noise.  
“What are we gonna do, Doctor!? You can’t go in there either! The smoke will kill you!”  
“No, it won’t.”  
“Don’t say that!”  
“No, really, it won’t.”  
“W-what are you talking about?” Jackie gasps out.

The Doctor sighs. He’s gonna regret this. He’s so gonna regret this. But, it’s the only way. He takes Jackie’s hand, guiding it and pressing her palm against his chest.  
“I’m not human, Jackie. My body doesn’t work the way yours do. I’ve got what’s called a respory bypass, which allows me to go longer periods of time without available oxygen. Now, please let me save your daughter!”  
Jackie’s lips parts a little in chock as she seems to register the fact that the man standing in front of her has got two hearts rather than one. Then she nods, letting go of his arm and watches him as he bolts off towards the house.

The Doctor stops dead in his tracks as he reaches the entrance, staring in at the flames and smoke that has taken over the house.   
“ROSE!” he calls, not even daring to hope for a reply.  
He’s met with silence, apart from the violent crackling from the fire. Not suprising, sadly. She might not even be conscious. She might already be d-

No! The Doctor stops that train of thought right away. He will not lose her. He will not let that happen! Wave of adrenalin and determination washing over him, he enters the burning house.

It’s hot. It’s so hot. and the thick smoke seems like it wanna crush him. The smoke itself doesn’t bother him, since his body is more than capable to cope without choking. The problem is the fact that he can’t really see anything. Everything just seems to be a big, dark cloud. Part of his brain reminds him that the smoke gets thicker the higher it gets, and he gets down on all fours in order to clear his vision at least a little bit. He starts crawling across the floor, continuing up the staircase. In this low position he’s able to see more. For example, he spots the Rose-shaped shadow in the far corner of her room, behind one of the curtains. The shadow trembles as rough coughs comes from it. She’s alive.

“Rose!” he cries, a relief he’s never known before filling his entire body.  
But the relief is short lived. Panic hits him as he realizes the reason for her not to reply: she can’t. All her energy goes to breathing, which seems to be a painful struggle as she wheezes in a short breath. He’s painfully reminded of humans’ mortality, as well as the low capacity of their lungs.

“Rose!” he calls again, hurrying over to her.  
She’s pressing the curtain against her face, most likely trying to protect herself from inhaling the smoke, but the fabric is too thin to make any real difference.   
“Rose? Can you hear me?”  
She nods, once again coughing weakly. The Doctor curses mentally. He needs to assure she don’t get so much smoke in her lounges, but at the same time she can’t go without breathing either. Wanting and needing to give her comfort, he takes her in his arms.

“Rose. Rose, listen to me. Okay? Deep breaths, okay? Deep, slow breaths. I know it’s hard, and I know it hurts, but you have to try. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m gonna get you out of here, love. It’s all going to be okay.”  
She nods, struggling to follow his request, and finally utters her first words since he found her.  
“Doctor. You came back. Y-you’re here.”  
“Of course I’m here, of course. Now, don’t talk so much, okay?”  
She nods again, and the Doctor slowly releases his hold on her. He makes sure she’s leaning her weight against the wall before standing up, looking around.

He could make it up the staircase, but that does not mean Rose will be able to get down the same route. The smoke is much thicker out there, especially down on the first floor, and she’s already struggling to breath as it is.

Speaking of Rose, there’s a soft thump behind him. A thump that sounds alarmingly similar to the sound of an average-sized teenage girl collapsing to the floor. The Doctor spins around, the sight in front of him confirming what he already feared: Rose is no longer leaning against the wall, but instead laying on her side. It almost appears she didn’t make any effort to stay upright at all, that she just gave up and fell. 

“No no no!” he exclaims, kneeling down beside her unmoving body.  
A touch of his fingers to her wrist tells him she’s still got pulse. A weak pulse, but still a pulse. That must be good. She isn’t, however, breathing. He might not have the medical education his name suggests, but the Doctor doesn’t need that to understand her condition isn’t a good one. 

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor presses their open mouths together and forces all the oxygen out of his body and into hers. She makes a noise, and he thanks a higher power he doesn’t even believe in as he repeats the action. Again and again. Then she’s gasping, coughing, and he hurries to grab a random piece of fabric and thrusting it into her hands.

“Hold this against your face”, he instructs her, and she seems to understand that his intentions are to protect her from breathing in the smoke cause she does as he says.  
The Doctor shifts his focus to trying to figure out how they are going to get out of there. Rose has already passed out once, so they don’t really have much time. 

Walking over to the window, the Doctor peers down at the crowd below. There are people working on putting out the fire, passing buckets of water between them and throwing the water at the aggressive flames. Jackie is wrapped in Pete’s arms, crying to the point where her entire body is shaking. Little eight year old Tony wanders back and forth in the middle of the large group of frantic adults, asking about his sister over and over again. Asking where she is. No one wants to provide the little boy with an answer, they just murmur sympathetically. 

Losing Rose would not only break him, he realizes then. It would break her family. And quite possibly also the staff, who has known her and helped her her entire life. He had sort of assumed everyone here saw her as some kind of burden and that they only helped her to feel good about themselves. He now realizes how utterly pathetic that point of view had been, and he’s not sure he’s ever going to forgive himself for daring to think like that. Rose has brought him a light and a happiness he’s never known before, and it really shouldn’t suprise him if she’s given the same thing to anyone that’s ever met her. She’s just so wonderful and beautiful, and the world would surely be a darker place without her in it.

With these thought feeding on his panic state from the back of his mind, the Doctor grabs the sheet off of Rose’s bed, dumping it on the floor before turning to the drawers in search of some more bed sheets. Rose obviously hears he’s up to something.  
“What are you doing?” she asks.  
“Making a ladder”, the Doctor responds, already tying together the ends of two bed sheets which he has rolled up into long rope-like structure.  
Rose seems rather confused, but she stays quiet. He makes quick work of tying together the ends of every bed sheet he could find, walking over to the window again and tying the end of the long so-called ladder to the curtain rod. When that’s done he returns to Rose’s side.

“Rose, listen to me. Do you trust me?”  
She gives a quick nod.  
“Okay, yeah, good. We need to get down from the window”, he informs her.  
He waits for her reply, but never gets one so he moves on:  
“You’re gonna have to get onto my back, you understand? I’m gonna stand up, my back facing you, and then I’m gonna guide you from there. Alright?”  
“Yeah.”

Following his own instructions the Doctor stands up, turning around so his back is facing her. He can feel her putting her palm against his lower back to support herself as she rises from the floor. Reaching behind him he finds her hands and guides them up to his shoulders. Rose takes a few steps forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Bending his knees slightly he puts his hands at her tights, Rose doing the last part by herself and jumping up so she’s half sitting and half hanging on his back.

The Doctor grabs his makeshift bed sheet ladder, Rose clinging to his back with both her legs and arms.  
“Hold on”, he tells her, though she already seems to be holding on for dear life, and then he starts climbing.

Their journey down to the ground fortunately don’t take very long time, and Rose is soon lifted off his back by her mother. He watches from a distance as Jackie and Pete embraces their daughter, relieved tears running down their cheeks as she coughs. He showes his hands down his pockets, bowing his head slightly. This is it, then. The goodbye. Better make it quick, like ripping off a band-aid. He inhales as he starts walking, casually approaching the small family. For a moment he just watches them closely, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

“So, I guess this is it. It’s been good, though. Great. Brilliant.”  
His words breaks their trance-like state, and their attention turns to him.  
“It has”, Pete agrees.  
“What do you mean?” Rose asks, perking up anxiously.

 

“So, you’re from another planet?”  
“Pretty much, yeah.”  
“Hm. How did you get here?”  
“His ship crashed”, Rose answers for the Doctor, who nods to confirm the answer.  
Pete nods slowly, eyeing the two. His daughter and her caretaker, who’s turned out to be from a completely different planet. That’s funny, twentyfour hours ago he didn’t even know about those other planets. 

They are all gathered in the parlor: him, his wife, his daughter and the Doctor. The two last mentioned are sitting close together, Rose’s head on the Doctor’s shoulder. She looks so relaxed, like she feels so safe. She should, Pete thinks. That man, whatever he is, saved her life. He saved his daughter’s life. That’s something that should be repayed, him being human or not.

Pete clears his throat.  
“I don’t feel we’ve thanked you enough, Doctor. You have saved our daughter’s life. That’s something we’ll never be able to repay, but we are sure gonna try. Name your price.”  
The Doctor’s lips parts slightly in silent suprise.  
“...What?”  
“We obviously can’t help you back home or anything like that, but any request you have that we are capable of meeting, we will”, Jackie clarifies.  
The Doctor realises the breath he’s been holding.  
“Would you let him stay here?” Rose asks quietly.  
“Of course, sweetheart. Do you want to stay, Doctor?”  
“I would love to”, the Doctor says, pressing a kiss to Rose’s forehead as if to prove a point.  
Rose beams. 

 

The Doctor knew they were coming. He had just hoped they wouldn’t be there so soon. He wishes he’d gotten some more time with the Tylers. But, then again, you can’t have everything.

He’s reading for Rose in one of the study rooms when Tony barges in through the door.  
“There’s a spaceship here!” the little boy cries, arm flailing as he attempts to point in his alarmed state.  
The Doctor almost drops the book to the floor, Rose flinching at the sudden noise.  
“What does he mean, Doctor?” she asks him.  
“Unfortunately, I think he means exactly what he’s saying”, the Doctor answers her, sucking in a sharp breath. 

 

A vertical metal cylinder greets them in front of the house. A TARDIS, no doubt about it. The Doctor leads Rose over to her parents, describing the alien object in front of them in tense whispers. Then the space ship opens, three Timelords stepping out. They take a moment staring at the humans in confusion, like they are a complicated puzzle, before their attention turns to the Doctor.

“Doctor. You’ve made yourself quite famous on Gallifrey. The man who stole a TARDIS. Do you know what the penalty is for stealing a TARDIS?”  
“No idea, but I can imagine it’s something pretty bad.”  
“Exile.”  
“Oh. Well, I already ran away, so-”  
“However, we’ve made the decision to make an exception for you. If you come back with us right now and join the army, that is.”  
“Oh.”

Sensing a pause in the conversation, Rose leans closer to the Doctor.  
“Who’s that talking?”  
“Aliens.”  
“Like you?”  
“No, not at all like me. Well, the same race, but-”

“Who are these humans you seem to have been hiding among?” the Timelord asks, interrupting the Doctor mid-sentence.  
“Oh, this? This is my family. I found them all on my own”, he announces proudly.  
“That one’s clearly defect”, the Timelord says, pointing at Rose.  
“I never said they were perfect. But they’re still good. Yeah, still good. Brilliant, even.”  
The Timelord is about to say something else, when the shriek of an angry Jackie Tyler makes everyone there freeze.

“DEFECT!? DEFECT!? I’ll show you DEFECT! That’s my daughter you’re talking about, you big-!”  
“Jackie!” the Doctor cries, grabbing the woman’s arm just as she throws herself at the Timelord closest to them.   
The Timelord who called Rose defective. Rose, the girl he loves. The Doctor doesn’t blame Jackie for wanting to attack them, quite the opposite: he would probably have done the same, if it wasn’t for his knowledge of the danger a threatened Timelord can be. There’s no way he can put a member of his new family at that sort of risk.

Jackie curses under her breath, but returns to her previous spot next to Pete.  
“You shouldn’t get yourself involved with humans, Doctor. It’s not good for you”, another one of the Timelords tells him.   
“Yeah, but that’s not gonna stop me!” the Doctor announces, suprisingly cheerfully despite the situation.   
“Maybe not, but you’re coming with us.”

The Doctor looks over at Rose, squeezing her hand in his. She smiles, a warm yet confused smile. The sight of her beautiful smile still makes him all warm and fuzzy. There was a time he used to deny it’s love he feels for her, but that time’s long gone. There’s no use denying it anymore, not ever. He loves this girl.

And he can’t imagine being without her, not now. Not anymore. 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline your offer, thanks”, he tells the Timelords, giving them the politest smile he can.  
“You know the punishment-”  
“Yes, I do. You told me, it’s exile. Go ahead, exile me. You should. I committed a serious crime, remember? I stole a TAR-”

Not wanting to listen to him anymore, the Timelord closest to them sends a ray of blinding, white light towards him. The energy beam hits the Doctor right in the chest, the force of the impact sending him flying backwards before crashing to the ground in a lifeless lump.  
“DOCTOR!” Rose yells as she feels his hand being torn from hers with a violent tug, her confusion and fear shining through her voice.

The Timelords steps back into their TARDIS and then the spaceship is gone, but the humans couldn’t pay less attention to them. They have gathered around the Doctor’s unmoving body, Jackie doing what she can to comfort Rose while trying to figure out how to explain what happened. It’s obvious that her daughter has grown rather fond of that daft alien, and she’s not sure how she’ll be able to give her the news that he might be dead. 

Fortunately, she doesn’t have to. Her husband decides to save her from that horrible responsibility by answering Rose’s questions himself.  
“We don’t know what happened, sweetheart. He was hit by some kind of beam and it looks like he was seriously hurt”, Pete explains gently, guiding his daughter over to the body. Rose kneels down in the grass next to the Doctor, her hands exploring his body. 

“Why isn’t he moving!?” she demands, but no one seems to want to give her an answer.   
Her hands reach his chest, palms resting over both his hearts.   
“Only one of them is beating”, she whispers, finally breaking down completely.  
She collapses over his body, grabbing his shirt in her fist as she cries. Cries, cries and cries. She’s whimpering incoherent words and sentences between sobs, pleas for him to wake up and curses at the ones who did this to him. The aliens. He said they were the same race, but apart from that they are nothing like him. Rose understands that now. They hurt the Doctor, the most wonderful being in the universe. The Doctor himself would never hurt anyone. Never ever. Not even a fly. 

Jackie says her name but Rose ignores it, wriggling out of the arms hugging her from behind. She doesn’t want anyone’s pity, doesn’t need anyone’s pity. She’ll just have to wait for the Doctor to wake up, that’s it. He’s gonna wake up soon, and when he does he’s going to want her there with him. 

Right? Right?

“Why isn’t he waking up? He should be waking up”, she whispers, voice weak from all the crying.  
“Oh, Rose...”, her mum says sadly, once again wrapping her arms around her.  
Rose doesn’t struggle this time, but instead lets herself be pulled into Jackie’s arms. The tears are still rolling down her face, though there shouldn’t be any tears left in her body. 

“He’s breathing fire!” Tony exclaims suddenly, drawing everyone’s attention to himself.  
He’s kneeling next to the Doctor, pointing at his mouth in fascination. He isn’t exactly breathing fire, but there’s a soft, golden light rising from his open mouth as he exhales. His eyelids flutter and he lets out a long, pained groan.  
“Oh...”

Rose, recognizing that voice anywhere, frees herself from Jackie’s hug with a violent tug.   
“Doctor!” she cries, fresh tears of joy and relief filling her eyes and making their way down her already very damp cheeks.   
The Doctor is too weak to move yet, but Rose decides to take things into her own hands by slowly crawling across the grass towards the sound of him.   
“Doctor?” she whispers, softly and hopefully.   
The man in question finally opens his eyes, beaming at the sight of the blonde.  
“Rose!” he calls happily, pulling her closer until her body is on top of his.  
“Oh my god, you’re alive!” Rose cries, pressing her face into the skin of his shoulder.  
“Alive? Of course I’m alive”, he tells her, stroking her back in concern.

“But Doctor, what happened? You were hit by this… thing! What was that?” Pete asks, taking the couple’s attention away from each other.  
“Deregeneration energy”, the Doctor explains.  
Or tries to explain.  
“Huh?”  
“Well, they basically took away my regeneration energy. What makes me not human. Well, what made me not human. I’m human now. And it seems I’ve only got one heart now. Oh, that’s disgusting!”  
“Oi!” Jackie exclaims, feeling it’s her responsibility to defend her race.  
Rose only giggles.

 

“And this is your name”, the Doctor whispers into the skin of Rose’s neck, his finger drawing a circle on her bare upper arm.  
Rose concentrates on the way his finger moves, memorizing the circular pattern making out each letter as he spells it out for her.  
“This is R, this is O, this is S, and this is E”.  
She smiles.  
“I can’t believe you learned that entire language when you were a kid!”  
“Nah, it’s not that hard. It only took about 90 years.”  
“90 years!?”’  
He laughs softly, amused by her reaction.  
“No, it’s not as long as it sounds. Not for me, at least. My life span is very different from you humans. Or, it used to be. Not anymore.”  
“You said they made you human to punish you...”  
“Not really to punish me, no. It’s more like part of the exile, to be sure I will stay here. Still, there’s no reason for me to leave. I’ve got you, I’ve got a new family, I’ve got- Oh.”

He freezes, tensing up.  
“What?” Rose asks, alarmed.  
“I’ve got a shortened life span, no more regenerations. Just… This one human life.”  
“Oh. I’m so sorry”, she whispers, cuddling up close to him.  
“Nah, it’s not that bad. I could spend that life with you, now. If you want to, I mean.”  
Rose beams.  
“Of course I want that!” she exclaims, kissing him.

The two of them are curled together under the duvet in Rose’s bed, both of them as naked as the day they were born. There hasn’t been any actual penetration yet, but there has been quite a few orgasms. It’s been about a week since the Doctor’s people came to get him, and since then he’s done his best to explain everything to Rose. She always listens to his tales with great fascination, in awe of the fact that there are so many worlds out there she didn’t even know about.

“Rose?” the Doctor asks, whispering it into the skin of her neck.  
“Yeah?”  
“H-how long are you gonna stay with me?” he asks, a bit shyly.  
“Forever.”


End file.
